How shuld I config my CDRW.....I only have two IDE channels and I have 3.....

[oblivion]

I am going to install my new CDRW,but I am not sure just what the best way to do it is.
I have one HDD and one CDrom,they each are on thier own IDE channel for best performance,now I know I can have to IDE devices on one channel,but which is my best config as far as performance? Both the CDrom and the CDRW on one IDE? HDD and CDRW on one IDE?CDrom and HDD on one IDE??? I am really wanting to know here,any help would be appreciated much,thank you.

[Ultima]

Hey Oblivion,

I have the same as you, only I have 2 hdd, 1 cdrom and 1 cdwriter.

I have my cdroms at the same ide, the writer as a master.
Someone once told me this would be the best setup, and I must say, that I haven't had any complaints what so ever!!!!

Pim

[thekingofpain]

I have mine the same way w/ no probs (2 hd's channel 1 cdrw and dvd channel 2) actually I had one of each on each channel at first and after reading its better to have the udma 66 devices together on a single channel I changed em...(didnt notice a diff by the way) http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif *T

[oblivion]

This my new problem,I just installed the CDRW(tried to at least)and now windows does not see any cdrom or cdrw at all..........and even stranger is the fact that when I boot windows tries to read my floppy and I get the message that says "A:\is not accessible".......I simply unplugged and uhooked the CDRW and now everything is back to normal...................I have the CDRW set to slave,should I set my cdrom to master(is that how it works you need a master for each IDE channel?)

[Ultima]

Oblivion,

There are 2 connections for every ide channel.
You don't have to use the master if you only put 1 device on it.
But it needs to be able to properly configure the devices.
Therefor it won't see neither one of them, if ya put em both on master or slave!!!

You can also put em both on cable select, then the pc chooses the best way for you!!!

Hope this helps a little.

Pim

[Szech]

Hey Oblivion

If you already decided on how to configure your drives, then cool. But otherwise, I would suggest having the hard drive and your CD-ROM drive on the first IDE Channel, and the CD-RW on your second IDE Channel. That's how I have mine, and it serves me well. The only time I can think of when you would have undesirable performance would be copying files from your CD-ROM to your HD. Otherwise, you can burn CDs from your HD or CD-ROM without worrying about buffer underrun.
As for your CD-RW not showing up, I had the same thing, and turns out that I soft-offed the computer to install the CD-RW, but I didn't switch off the power supply. And I think Ultima is right about the master/slave thing not mattering unless you have two devices on the channel. I'm not sure if the cable matters, but my EIDE cable has MASTER printed on the middle plug, and SLAVE printed on the far plug. Also: does it show up when you boot?

Hope this helps http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

[oblivion]

Hehe I got it figured out now..........I will have to think about the cdrom and HDD on the same drive..........I like fast installs.............hmmm

I accidently had both as slave.

[NavyDood_ F/A18_Mech]

Primary IDE:
HDD master
(empty) slave

Secondary IDE:
CD-Rom Master
HP CD-RW Slave

I've tried all the different ways you could with those 3 items. I made a few coasters in the process of seeing which worked best. The way I described above works the best for me. Haven't made a coaster in about 50 burns or so.

Jim